{all images via This is Glamorous}
Showing posts with label italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label italy. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Masked
I'll be staying in and getting cozy watching movies with husband to ring in the new year. However, a masquerade ball in Venice sounds like something to add to my bucket list. This is Glamorous gives the rundown of what to expect.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
umbria...um yes!
If you're a member of Gilt Groupe, then you'll also get email notifications from Jetsetter. It works the same way, exclusive limited time deals on luxury, only this is vacations instead of fashion. It's probably cruel and unusual punishment to subject myself to these emails with offers for stays at glamorous locations around the world. Especially when the deals are only good if you hop on that plane within the next month or so. But they feature some great ideas and locations for future reference. This one caught my eye today:
Sounds divine. Eating and Italy. What else is there?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuscan tasting
There's this little Italian boutique I've been dying to try out. Mia Sorella in El Dorado Hills carries specialty olive oils and balsamic vinegars imported from all over the world. Now that I'm home I was able to visit and do a tasting. Let me tell you, I never knew olive oil and balsamic vinegar could taste so amazing.
The long room is lined with metal canisters of oils and glass jars of vinegars. One of the owners will recommend a pairing and then combine a pump of each into a small plastic cup. Each type has recommended dishes to go along with it. There were so many fascinating flavors. There was a balsamic vinegar in nearly every fruit infusion you could imagine. There were all different strengths of olive oil, light to spicy to fruity.
My favorites were:
Meyer lemon olive oil and strawberry balsamic
(would be great on a salad, very light and great citrus flavor)
Blood orange olive oil and dark chocolate balsamic
(very rich and decadent, would be delicious over ice cream, fruit or even a spinach salad with oranges)
Tuscan herb olive oil and traditional 18-year balsamic
(very full, hearty italian flavor, would be delicious over pasta, with bread, or with meat)
They have various size bottles that you can purchase, but right now for the holidays they have a special on mini bottles for $9 so I picked up some christmas gifts! I would love to have a tasting party sometime, with breads and salads and meats and desserts to drizzle them over.
The shop also carries gourmet pastas, stuffed olives, herbs, soaps and locally made artisan ceramics.
(photos courtesy of the mia sorella website)
p.s. check out the recipes on their site!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
venezia
how can i possibly focus on studying or be content with orange county when there are photos like this floating about?
(via this is glamorous)
it would be nice to go back at a time where i won't sweat buckets.
gelato helps though :) (we ate our weight in gelato...soooooo goooood)
(via apt #34)
(via this is glamorous)
it would be nice to go back at a time where i won't sweat buckets.
gelato helps though :) (we ate our weight in gelato...soooooo goooood)
(via apt #34)
Friday, May 15, 2009
alternative transportation
i haven't disappeared. life just got in my way.
(giancarlo rado via her)
technically this is treviso. but it makes me wish for that one long night in venice.
the airport bathroom with no toilets (only holes in the ground), getting dropped off by the bus and not knowing where to go, ridiculous water taxi prices, discovering the water bus, the positively lovely hotel booked the night before (at a price...), a room with a window above a side alley canal, and if you looked sideways you could see the grand canal, the only english channel on the tv was pre-olympics coverage, the delightful breakfast the next morning and the adorable older folks on holiday from england.
i would love to see those canals in the fog. so dreamy. and whomever says that it smells like sewage in venice is a liar. i was there in the heat and humidity of august and it was perfection. you don't even mind the spray of canal water on your already sweaty skin as you ride the water bus up and down the grand canal with your 14 hour cheap pass because you couldn't afford a gondola.
(giancarlo rado via her)
technically this is treviso. but it makes me wish for that one long night in venice.
the airport bathroom with no toilets (only holes in the ground), getting dropped off by the bus and not knowing where to go, ridiculous water taxi prices, discovering the water bus, the positively lovely hotel booked the night before (at a price...), a room with a window above a side alley canal, and if you looked sideways you could see the grand canal, the only english channel on the tv was pre-olympics coverage, the delightful breakfast the next morning and the adorable older folks on holiday from england.
i would love to see those canals in the fog. so dreamy. and whomever says that it smells like sewage in venice is a liar. i was there in the heat and humidity of august and it was perfection. you don't even mind the spray of canal water on your already sweaty skin as you ride the water bus up and down the grand canal with your 14 hour cheap pass because you couldn't afford a gondola.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
mmmm spaghetti...
we're in florence now!
let's see...
in paris we basically did everything in like 2 1/2 days. arc de triomphe, eiffel tower at night (climbed 700 steps, saw the light show), versailles gardens (freeeeee), champs de elysees, place de la concorde, visited the louvre and saw mona lisa, sacre cour, notre dame and cemeterie pere lachaise where oscar wilde and jim morrison are buried. ate lots of crepes. sometimes that was lunch. yum.
then venice. BEAUTIFUL. we stayed in a place right off the grand canal. went to piazza de san marco, but there were hardly any birds. decided against the gondola, the cheapest one we found was 80 euro for 35 minutes. instead we rode the public ferry boat (like a public bus but on water) for a while. hehe.
then we stayed at a farm in solimbergo (northern italy) near trieste. recommended by Monique and Aron. super cute. delicious homemade dinner: pasta, salad, prosciutto, bread, and homemade red wine and pie. sydney and stacy swam in their pool. i didn't bring my suit :( so i just put my feet in. there was a crazy thunderstorm last night at the farm. like at least 30 flashes of lightning and tons of really loud thunder. lots and lots of rain. by this morning you couldn't tell it had rained and no one even mentioned it. must be normal. i wish we could have spent more time at the farm, Sasso D'Oro Agriturismo.
then we took the train to florence, or firenze as they call it in italy. very pretty. unfortunatly italy does not compare to america when it comes to bathrooms. sometimes it's just a hole in the ground. or a toilet with no seat. and it seems that it either has toilet paper OR running water in the faucet. never both. and finding the flusher is always an adventure.
tomorrow we're off to rome for 3 days.
overall it's been amazing, though i wish we had more time in each place. and that everything was planned out in more detail as far as our itinerary goes. lessons learned for next time. :) it's way hotter than i expected. and HUMID. we gave up trying to feel clean. the minute you step out of the shower you're sticky again. air conditioning is a luxury and a privilege. thank goodness our hostel in rome has it. i'm loving europe but i'm ready to go home. i want to lay around and not move for awhile. we've been doing a lot of traveling and lugging around heavy backpacks and sweating in this heat. there's a lot of things in america that we take advantage of. like ice cubes and toilet seat covers. but i've learned i can eat italian food every day of my life and never get sick of it. and the gelato over here is to die for. and i'll probably never be able to eat american pizza objectively again. one nice thing, they have diet coke everywhere here, or they call it coca cola light. so i can continue my addiction.
it looks like i won't be able to post more pictures until i get home. sorry guys. but there will be plenty to look at. i've accumulated about 500 photos in the past week, at least. well i only have a minute and a half left at this internet cafe. so until next time, arrividerci! ciao!
let's see...
in paris we basically did everything in like 2 1/2 days. arc de triomphe, eiffel tower at night (climbed 700 steps, saw the light show), versailles gardens (freeeeee), champs de elysees, place de la concorde, visited the louvre and saw mona lisa, sacre cour, notre dame and cemeterie pere lachaise where oscar wilde and jim morrison are buried. ate lots of crepes. sometimes that was lunch. yum.
then venice. BEAUTIFUL. we stayed in a place right off the grand canal. went to piazza de san marco, but there were hardly any birds. decided against the gondola, the cheapest one we found was 80 euro for 35 minutes. instead we rode the public ferry boat (like a public bus but on water) for a while. hehe.
then we stayed at a farm in solimbergo (northern italy) near trieste. recommended by Monique and Aron. super cute. delicious homemade dinner: pasta, salad, prosciutto, bread, and homemade red wine and pie. sydney and stacy swam in their pool. i didn't bring my suit :( so i just put my feet in. there was a crazy thunderstorm last night at the farm. like at least 30 flashes of lightning and tons of really loud thunder. lots and lots of rain. by this morning you couldn't tell it had rained and no one even mentioned it. must be normal. i wish we could have spent more time at the farm, Sasso D'Oro Agriturismo.
then we took the train to florence, or firenze as they call it in italy. very pretty. unfortunatly italy does not compare to america when it comes to bathrooms. sometimes it's just a hole in the ground. or a toilet with no seat. and it seems that it either has toilet paper OR running water in the faucet. never both. and finding the flusher is always an adventure.
tomorrow we're off to rome for 3 days.
overall it's been amazing, though i wish we had more time in each place. and that everything was planned out in more detail as far as our itinerary goes. lessons learned for next time. :) it's way hotter than i expected. and HUMID. we gave up trying to feel clean. the minute you step out of the shower you're sticky again. air conditioning is a luxury and a privilege. thank goodness our hostel in rome has it. i'm loving europe but i'm ready to go home. i want to lay around and not move for awhile. we've been doing a lot of traveling and lugging around heavy backpacks and sweating in this heat. there's a lot of things in america that we take advantage of. like ice cubes and toilet seat covers. but i've learned i can eat italian food every day of my life and never get sick of it. and the gelato over here is to die for. and i'll probably never be able to eat american pizza objectively again. one nice thing, they have diet coke everywhere here, or they call it coca cola light. so i can continue my addiction.
it looks like i won't be able to post more pictures until i get home. sorry guys. but there will be plenty to look at. i've accumulated about 500 photos in the past week, at least. well i only have a minute and a half left at this internet cafe. so until next time, arrividerci! ciao!
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